HEILUNG Announces Signature Mead and Beer

Enigmatic world music outfit HEILUNG are proud to announce their personally created, limited edition mead and beer! The specially developed signature beverages, which were created in collaboration with mead developer Mjødgård and beer brewery Nevel, are now available HERE.

HEILUNG comments:
"It´s feasting time! We wish you all a pleasant autumn equinox, the time where we reap what we have sown and enjoy the bounty of the harvest. This year, we have a special sort of harvest to share with you: Our very first batch of our very own ALU and MJØDR. We have always liked the idea of creating a beer and a mead, and thanks to our dear collaborators in Doomstar Bookings it all got set in motion this year. The choice of breweries landed on one of the oldest Danish mead breweries Mjødgård and the well renowned Dutch beer brewers Nevel Wild Ales. Please note: This is by no means a cheap, mass-produced product with a band logo on top, this is something we have been developing after our own taste for quite some time, and pored all our love into, like with everything we do. Skåååååål!"

Doomstar Bookings comments on the collaboration:
"Doomstar Bookings is utterly proud to unveil a project that combines two of our passions; music and tasty thirst quenchers! Upon touring together late 2019 with Heilung, the idea was put forward to create a Heilung beer. That idea started a life of its own and resulted in two beautiful products, the Heilung beer named Alu and the Heilung mead named Mjøðr, respectively created by the Dutch (award winning) artisanal ale expert Nevel and the renowned Danish meadery Mjødgård Bryggeri. Both have created an excellent alcoholic beverage that totally fits the artist's flavour desires and their historical image. A limited amount of 3500 75CL bottles of this herbalized saison tripel beer and 1100 70CL bottles of the herbalized honey wine will be released to the world this autumn equinox through our partners at Spirits for Rock, we hope you can get spiritual after indulging in this amplified tastery!"

Mead developer Mjødgård comments:
"Mjødgård develops mead from passion. We look back in time for inspiration, and we want to show that mead is modern and, as then, still a luxurious drink. Making Heilung mead with the band's historical and natural inspiration are completely in line with Mjødgård. To combine the essence of Heilung with our modern mead we had to use Meadow Sweet as the main spice, with its roots dating back to the Bronze Age, combined with hemp, with its thousands of years of history. Nature is our greatest source why our ingredients are all local. We want to support the preservation of biodiversity. We are therefore really proud to present a mead that builds a bridge between the world of the past and the present."

Beer developer Nevel comments:
"Yup, that's right! We were asked to brew for a neofolk band! Doomstar Bookings approached us, asking whether we wanted to make a traditional Scandinavian beer for Heilung, a band known for reviving traditional Scandinavian music. We could not say 'no' to that. We are very honoured to work together with these amazing artists and we are quite proud of the result. Alu was meant to be a crowd pleaser and we knew the band enjoyed drinking Belgian classics. They opted us to work with historical herbs and ingredients. For this beer, we used a traditional Scandinavian blend of herbs (with a.o. wild bog myrtle and meadowsweet), we added caramelized honey of beekeeper Stevns and we used a traditional Belgian Saison yeast. This boils down to a floral, thirst quencing, crushable beer. This beer is different to what you are used to, especially as this is a first time for us not to use our own house culture. We wanted to make more space for Scandinavian history."

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In celebration of the collaboration, Season of Mist & HEILUNG created special and extremely limited hand-made 'mead cups', which are available in three different colours. These cups are available via the shop HERE.

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ICYMI: following an extremely successful first ever tour of North America, in which every venue sold out, HEILUNG are returning to the states for one spectacular evening! The Danish formation will be bringing their mesmerizing ritual to the historic, century-old Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO on October 5, 2021. Tickets for the 2020 show will be honored at the new date. For every ticket sold, One Tree Planted will plant a tree in Colorado. You can purchase tickets HERE.

HEILUNG live:
10/05/2021: Denver, CO (USA) @ Red Rocks Amphitheater [TICKETS]

"Ofnir" was a very masculine album. To create it, HEILUNG took a big part of the lyrics from preserved rune inscriptions on weapons and armour. "Futha" is the counterpart, the balance point, the feminine side. Here, the lyrics originate from old Icelandic poetry, in which the holy women chant magic spells and offer their blessings. Hence, female voices are more prominent on "Futha".

HEILUNG means "healing" in the German language and this also describes the core of the band's sound. The listener is supposed to be left at ease and in a relaxed state after a magical musical journey that is at times turbulent.

HEILUNG reach far back in time to the Northern European iron age and Viking period to create their sound experience. The band utilises many means in their songs: from running water via human bones, reconstructed swords and shields up to ancient frame drums as well as bronze rings.

When HEILUNG self-released 'Ofnir' in 2015, the Danish band could hardly have anticipated the breakthrough success of their debut album. Spectacular live shows, strong critical acclaim, and a massive underground buzz added to the constantly high demand for this full-length are the reason why their new label Season of Mist did not hesitate to re-issue 'Ofnir' in several collector's edition formats. HEILUNG's live album, 'LIFA' (2017) was released in parallel.

The word "Futha" is taken from an artefact, that is still controversially discussed. Big names in runology like Düwel and Heizmann can agree neither on the deciphering nor the meaning of the description.…The word is engraved in a gold bracteate from Skåne (SE), which was produced around 500-530 AD. It was discovered in 1831 and these medals or coins were divided into different categories by the Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius. The bracteate in question is a so-called C-bracteate named Schonen II-C (Schonen is the German Name of Skåne) with a horse and a face. The rune inscription is between the hind-legs of the horse. Interesting to mention here is the fact that the majority of full rune set inscriptions start with "futh", which also is the first three letters in all runic alphabets. It is considered that our forefathers saw magic potential in engraving the full rune line, but there is also great significance in the beginnings. Science has no key for the meaning of only engraving the first couple of letters yet, but there is a surplus of theories. This brings us to a runic staff found in Bergen, which was given the rather unpoetic archaeological classification B011. It carries the inscription: "felleg er fuþ sin bylli Fuþorglbasm", which means: "Lovely is the cunt, may the cock fill it up". Also interesting is that the Högstena amulet, which we use in the song "Galgaldr", has an alternative deciphering of the word "futh", which in this context means "cunt". All this leaves us with two hints: magic potential and the female genitalia. The great healing power of the female wild strength is evoked in "Futha". Those who have been present at a birth or seen a lioness hunting, know the spirit. The spirit of the "wilde Weiber" (German), the wild wise women. "Futha" endeavours to connect to a time before the female was degraded to a birth-machine and carrier of eternal inherited guilt. 

"Futha" was three years in the making and was finished for production and print at midwinter, the very darkest day of the solar year, the 21st in the 12th month at 21:00.

Any attempt to link the band with or bring their music into a modern political or religious context is pointless, since HEILUNG try to connect their listeners with a time before the coming of Christianity and modern political ideologies. 

Line-up:
Kai Uwe Faust 
Christopher Juul
Maria Franz

www.facebook.com/amplifiedhistory
www.instagram.com/amplifiedhistory
https://som.lnk.to/HeilungFutha

Style: Amplified History / Neofolk

Booking contactluc@doomstarbookings.com

Shop SoMhttps://redirect.season-of-mist.com/Heilung
Shop Heilung: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/heilung-tvm-shop

Available formats
Digipak CD
CD sew bound hardcover book
Gatefold double LP in various colours
Deluxe gatefold double LP Box (male/female edition)
Cassette

PESSIMIST Announces Signature "Blood for the Gods" Mead

American blackened death metal icons PESSIMIST (ft. Kelly McLauchlin of POSSESSED, I AM MORBID, etc.) will be releasing their signature "Blood for the Gods" mead as part of Brimming Horn Meadery's 'Mead and Metal" series! The mead is made with plum and aronia berries that have been aged 6 month in oak barrels, promising a "dark, sweet, and divine" flavor palate. The drink will be made available on June 11 to coincide with the release of the vinyl reissue of the band's sophomore record of the same name.

PESSIMIST mainman Kelly McLauchlin comments, "We will be releasing our very own 'Blood for the Gods' Mead, from our friends at Brimming Horn Meadery, in Milton, DE as part of their “Mead and Metal” series! The brew should be ready to be released at the same time as our album on June 11! This is a craft Mead (also called Honey Wine) brewed specially for us - I worked with the brewmaster on developing the ingredients - it will be dark red 'Dark, Sweet and Divine,' just like our record, 'Blood for the Gods!' Brimming Horn Meadery is also a sponsor of - and will be in attendance this year - at Decibel Magazine's "Metal and Beer Fest" in Philly!"

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ICYMI: PESSIMIST have recently entered the Black Attack Studios in Los Angeles, CA (USA) to begin recording their long awaited fourth full-length album, ‘Keys to the Underworld,’ with engineer Ira Black! This will be the band's first full-length record since 2002's 'Slaughtering the Faithful.' In addition, the band is also now welcoming drummer Tim Yeung (I AM MORBID, DIVINE HERESY, HATE ETERNAL, etc.) to the recording lineup! 'Keys to the Underworld' will be released by Season of Mist at a later date. Stay tuned!

PESSIMIST has previously announced that they will be issuing their first three albums on vinyl for the first time ever! 'Cult of the Initiated,' (1997) 'Blood for the Gods,' (1999) and 'Slaughtering the Faithful' (2002) will all contain never-before-heard bonus tracks and other extras as well, such as new layouts and rare, archival band photos. The release dates are as follows:
'Cult of Initiated' – Due on May 14, 2021
'Blood for the Gods' – Due on June 11, 2021
'Slaughtering the Faithful' – Due on July 16, 2021


A trailer for the reissues can be seen HERE.

The trilogy is now available for pre-orders HERE.

One of the premiere bands to emerge out of the early Baltimore, MD death metal scene, with their 1993 demo Dark Reality, PESSIMIST played their first shows opening for national acts Incantation, Deicide, and Malevolent Creation. In 1995, the band self-released the EP Absence of Light on cassette and landed gigs opening for Testament, Forbidden, Suffocation, and Napalm Death.

In 1997 PESSIMIST signed to Lost Disciple Records and released their debut CD Cult of the Initiated, which charted on CMJ Top 40 Loud Rock Charts, and received acclaim from around the world. The band continued to play shows in the Mid-Atlantic region, opening for Cryptopsy, Nile, Gorguts, Dying Fetus, Vader, Monstrosity, and festival appearances at Milwaukee Metalfest XII, New England Metal and Hardcore Fest - and the band's first European tour with Fleshless (Cz) in 1999.

PESSIMIST released their second CD, Blood For the Gods, in 1999, which soared into the CMJ Top 30 and received the prestigious "Pick of the Issue.. 10 Fucking Skulls" in SOD Magazine. PESSIMIST became recognized for their unique brand of brutal and technical Black/Death Metal, with old-school thrash influences, an emphasis on quality songwriting, powerful live shows and a dark, evil sound.

In 2001, the band traveled to Tampa, FL to record with producer Erik Rutan, for their third CD, Slaughtering the Faithful, which featured a re-vamped lineup and a faster, more extreme musical direction. More shows followed with Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Krisiun, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Dark Funeral, festival appearances at March Metal Meltdown, New England Metal and Hardcore Fest, and November to Dismember.

PESSIMIST returned in 2008 with the Evolution Unto Evil CD, a compilation of rare/live demo recordings and tributes to Kreator, Death, Megadeth, and Possessed, which was co-released on Pathos Prod and Deathgasm Recs. This was followed by appearances at New England Deathfest and Hostile City Deathfest. In 2009, the band returned to Europe for their second European tour with label-mates Pandemia (CZ).

In between downtime with the band, founder/guitarist Kelly McLauchlin had also been a member of bands such as UNHOLY GHOST, DIABOLIC, filled in live with ANGELCORPSE, and had later joined Death Metal legends POSSESSED, touring with the band from 2011-2013.

In 2018, PESSIMIST returned to the stage at Maryland Deathfest, headlining Las Vegas Deathfest, Rage of Armageddon Fest (NY), and Ruinfest (CA), and in 2019 released a new single, Keys to the Underworld, which featured studio drummer Kevin Talley (Dying Fetus, Suffocation) and bassist Kelly Conlon (Monstrosity, Death).

Now, in their latest incarnation, the current PESSIMIST lineup includes founder/guitarist Kelly McLauchlin (I Am Morbid, Possessed, etc.), new bassist recruit Andrew Bowen (Carnal Necrosis) ,and vocalist Ivan Alison aka "The Evil One" (Black Mass).

The band is currently writing music for the next full-length album, Keys to the Underworld.

Genre: Blackened Death Metal

Line Up:
Kelly McLauchlin - Guitars
Andrew Bowen - Bass
Ivan Alison - Vocals

Pre-orders: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/Pessimist

For more on PESSIMIST, visit the band's official WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, and BANDCAMP.